It was another day with another sweep for the XCP varsity volleyball
team.
With rival Phoenix Horizon coming into the Activity Center
to heat up the stove again, Xavier put out the fire with a three-game sweep on
Wednesday (Sept. 3), the Gators’ second sweep in as many days.
After defeating Peoria Centennial on Tuesday night (Sept.
2), the Gators rolled past Horizon 25-22, 25-12, 25-12.
This Horizon team is but a shadow of its former self, the
one that challenged Xavier down to the wire last season and fell to the Gators
in the Division I semifinals, before the Gators went on to win it all.
Gone is the Huskies’ tall skyscraper front wall, as well as
many other talented players.
The Huskies are young, but so is Xavier, with only two
seniors. In this case, young does not mean inexperienced. The Gators have
enough to make a run at another title.
“I’ll take it (victory),’’ said Xavier coach Lamar-Renee
Bryant.
When it was mentioned that the Gators appeared to have more
focus than the Huskies and perhaps more than Centennial the night before,
Bryant said, “We try to be focused. We are taking each match one at a time and
we are working hard every single day.’’
While defense keyed the win over Centennial, this one was
attributable to good service and good passing.
One of the players providing both was junior Callie Jones.
“She is making good decisions in regard to her passes and
reads the defense very well, so she knows how to set up her teammates (at the
net),’’ Bryant said.
Freshman outside hitter Alayna Wagner also is developing
into a valuable player.
Wagner had several key kills in the contest.
“She’s a freshman, but she has a lot of volleyball under her
belt,’’ Bryant said. “She’s already doing a lot for us and we are excited to
see how far she progresses.’’
In the first game, Horizon stayed close and was within 24-22
on a block. But a net serve on the next point cut the potential rally short.
Xavier used a 7-0 run late in the second game to cruise to
victory. Junior outside hitter Khalia Lanier finished this one off with a
powerful kill shot. Lanier appeared to be more involved – all over the floor
-- in this match.
Wagner and her teammates along the net proved to be a
difficult problem to solve for Horizon in the third game, blocking several
shots or altering the returns to go beyond the back line and out of bounds.
The junior varsity scored a pair of 25-16 wins over Horizon,
and the freshman team outlasted the Huskies 27-25 and 26-24 to do its part.
Xavier will play its third straight home match on Sept. 9
against Mesa Desert Ridge.
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